Branson, Mo. , May 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On April 4, 2018, verified vendor Facility Compliance Services, LLC (DUNS #080806431) in Branson, Mo., won its first government contract. Valued at $58,785, the business is tasked with upgrading the intelligent switchgear main platform for the emergency diesel generator system at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, S.C. This job is estimated to take about one day to complete and the company has subcontracted with Blanchard Caterpillar to help carry out the task.
“Being a veteran, I thought that I could help the VA and military hospitals with the constantly changing regulatory compliance accreditation requirements,” says founder Dean Samet. When he started his business in August 2017, he knew right away that he wanted to work as a government contractor. As a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, he also knew about set-asides in the federal marketplace for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.
Although his company has only been around for 9 months, Samet has decades of industry experience under his belt. He has worked for 30 years in regulatory compliance with 17 of those years at The Joint Commission. He has also worked 14 years in construction management. To get into the federal market, he wanted to approach each step as a challenge. Nonetheless, he began this endeavor with low expectations.
As mentioned before, he wanted to bring his expertise to address the ever-changing hospital regulatory compliance requirements. In recent years he’s seen the codes and standards changes occur within shorter and shorter periods of time. Years ago, they typically occurred annually. Then they were updated semi-annually and more recently, several times a year.
While doing research for his SDVOSB certification, he came across US Federal Contractor Registration. He found USFCR’s website, “quite informative,” and decided to get in contact with the firm. It all started with a call from Peter LaNore, USFCR Senior Acquisitions Director, and his executive assistant, Liliana Lander. Then he worked with Lead Case Manager Christie Jackson. Afterward, he was guided through the Vendor Information Pages by a “very patient and helpful” case analyst, Michele Hart.
“Jimi Diaz did a fantastic job,” says Samet about his government-formatted website. As part of the Simplified Acquisition Program, USFCR will design a custom website for a business that’s directed for marketing towards procurement agents.
After about 2 or 3 proposals, Facility Compliance Services was able to win its first contract. Samet found the debriefing process to be useful for on-going guidance and getting quick responses to his questions. Then, in April, there was finally some good news.
“I was very excited,” says Samet about the moment he found out his company was awarded the contract. Although he will be working with a VA medical center’s emergency power system, it was not the first kind of consulting opportunity that he was expecting to win. This contract is one that applies to the engineering side of his business. Still, he is very excited towards future contract opportunities.
Within 8 months, Facility Compliance LLC went from being uncertified as an SDVOSB and unregistered in SAM to winning its first government contract.